J-20 5th Generation Fighter VII
- Thread starter siegecrossbow
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So far, the J-20 has been integrated with an AL-31 variant and a WS-10 variant. The Russian engines I propose are in the same family as the AL-31, so they should already have familiarity from having played with other AL-31 variants.
Since the WS-15 is late, doing more work but easier work is better than doing less work but harder work.
I think we are all giving too much thinking to a Minnie Chan article here. There is at present nothing to indicate J-20s are being produced with TVC systems. What we do know is that the TVC system was tested on the J-20 system, but that is most likely preparation for the WS-15. I can't remember Minnie Chan being right about anything before so I think this theory should be put to rest.
So if Minnie Chan says the sky is blue in the clear of day, the sky is orange?
In any case, as I've said, the Minnie Chan rumor does NOT deserve discussion. It's something that's possible, but she doesn't have enough reliability that we can take her claims at face value.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
I don’t think the J10B TWC testbed can give us any solid indications in terms of Chinese TVC plans for the J20.
If they go for a F35 style somewhat-stealth round nozzle design, it might allow for 3D TVC, but if they opt to go for F22 style full stealth (including IR suppression, which might be a key priority for the J20 when supercruising), 2D is more likely.
I think it is premature for us to make any conclusions because I think the PLAAF itself would probably need to see test results of the two types to make a final decision itself. In that respect, I fully expect to see both F22 and F35 nozzle versions of WS15s appearing on J20s in the future, perhaps even have a fly-off to determine the final winner, but I don’t think we will know for sure which way the PLAAF have gone until we see production versions.
This is irrelevant. We're talking about FCS integration with TVC. Do you even understand what a monumentally difficult task this is? It's not a matter of saying well WS-10 now works on J-20 so WS-10 TVC should only take a few months. Ditto AL engines.
LOL this is a huge strawman argument from you. Back to usual discussion methods is it?
Your entire point is that Minnie Chan is always wrong. My point is that Minnie Chan is unreliable, which is to say, she can say whatever she wants but that doesn't mean her claims are either true or false.
Remember, a stopped clock is right twice a day.
And as regarding the FCS, I'd imagine I have a notion of how difficult integration might be, so I'm suggesting that the Chinese might start with Russian engines because it reduces points of failure.
Can you please stop the strawmanning? I never said she's always wrong. I said she's often wrong so we should all consider this reputation for being wrong. This doesn't equate to me saying everything MC says will forever always be wrong and should be ignored. I said NONE of that. You invented this in your head because you seem to be incapable of comprehending nuance and anything that isn't pure black and white. You must convert complexity into black or white.
On topic, does anyone really think the PLAAF will spend the money, time, and effort to integrate the J-20's FCS with an interim TVC engine be it Russian or Chinese AND then do that all over again with the WS-15? Think! Use your brains people! The only way that makes sense is if two things; the WS-15 is FARRRRRRRRR away from completion AND the TVC will add very necessary capability a non-TVC engine set does not.
If we see WS-10 or AL-31 based TVC engines on the J-20 soon, rest assured that the WS-15 is much more than 5 years away. You can't just do the same FCS integration and software codes for the WS-15 once you've done the work for the WS-10 or AL-31. It doesn't work that way unless the WS-15 is basically the same engine which it will not be.
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